You Should Have Been the One
by Frankie Alton
Summary: Based on the episode Two Futures- A disappointed and bitter Linka reflects on her encounter with a strange American boy.


A/N: This is based on the episode Two Futures. This is set in the first future Wheeler visits, the one where he never became a Planeteer and the world has pretty much been destroyed by war and pollution. Wheeler visits the future versions of the other Planeteers, who are basically old and bitter and have given up hope on saving the world. This story is about the thoughts of the Linka from that future after her encounter with Wheeler.

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><p>It had been over a week but she still could not get the crazy American boy out of her mind. How had he even gotten into Russia in the first place? And how did he disappear so quickly? Perhaps he was some sort of a spy, though he did not seem like a spy. For one thing he was far too frantic and loud… and he seemed a little insane as well. How could he have not known about the ozone layer depletion or that he needed to wear protective clothing?<p>

But what really puzzled Linka was how he knew about _her._ How did he know her name, and that she used to play songs for the birds? She figured it would not be too hard to find out that information, but still what was his goal? He had mentioned the Planeteers, but she had long since put that failure out of her mind. Perhaps he was trying to restart the group. She scoffed a little at the idea. That hardly seemed worthwhile at this point.

_Besides_, Linka thought bitterly,_ it was an American who caused the whole venture to fall apart in the first place._

Linka had absolutely no respect for Americans. She considered them all to be greedy, selfish villains, who were only out to take care of themselves. The final Planeteer, the American boy who had not bothered to show up, was only her first unpleasant experience. What had really tarnished her perception of Americans, however, had been her interactions with a certain businessman named Looten Plunder who had built a petrochemical plant in her hometown nearly fifty years ago.

The man had been shrewd when it came to business. Linka had initially been the most outspoken in opposition to his factory being built in the town and he had cleverly done the one thing that he knew would shut her up: he hired her brother Mishka as the general foreman of the factory. Jobs had become extremely difficult to find by that point, especially well paying ones, and Linka knew quite a few people far more qualified than her brother had been passed up for the position. Mishka had a wife and a child on the way at that point and she could not in good conscience do anything to ruin his chances of providing for his family, even if that meant conceding defeat and allowing the pollution spewing factory to be built in her hometown. Besides, she was only one person, how could she fight someone with that much wealth and power on her own?

To his credit, Linka would have to admit that Plunder had at least provided jobs for the people in the town, and his company had stayed around longer than most others. Of course, eventually the anti-American sentiment grew strong enough that he realized it was time to move on. It had been over thirty years since she had last seen the man, at a company Christmas party her brother had insisted she attend. Plunder had been thoroughly intoxicated and had drunkenly confessed that he actually rather liked her. She had been the only person who had ever really given him much of a fight, he had said. Life was boring without a fight.

In her typical manner, Linka had responded by irately telling him that he was being ridiculous, even if she was at least somewhat flattered by the remark. He didn't seem to care too much about her rebuff though and continued to take shots of vodka until he was nearly unconscious. Less than a week later he announced the closure of the factory and disappeared, never returning to the town.

_Typical American,_ Linka thought as she reminisced about that time in her life. In an odd way she rather missed it. Things were simpler back then, when her enemies were outsiders and easy to identify. Now her own people were her enemies. Her government was being held together by threads, the people were desperate and irrational. Food riots were commonplace. The rates of cancer and other diseases induced by heavy rates of industrial pollution were staggering. The idea of treating those diseases had been abandoned long ago. It made sense to use what little resources were left to help those who actually had a chance at survival.

It was a harsh reality, but it was the only reality she knew. There was no place for irrational hope, the only chance of maintaining any semblance of organized society was to act completely rationally. At least her powers helped her to corral the frenzied masses in her hometown, the only benefit she really had from the ring she had received so long ago.

After handing out the last of the meager rations for the day, to a rather disappointed crowd, Linka lead the convoy of armored vehicles back to their base of operations which was ironically located in the building that used to serve as Plunder's factory. After he had left Russia the factory had remained vacant for decades. Mishka had tried to reopen it but he could never find any backers willing to invest any money in the enterprise. Eventually he had abandoned the idea and the massive building fell into disrepair until Linka decided it would be well suited for her work.

Perhaps she wasn't causing a huge dent in the problems that had beset her homeland, but she was at least doing _something_ to help, or so she hoped. That American boy had been so silly, thinking that he could somehow save the entire world.

Linka laughed harshly at thought, causing a few of her comrades to cast her strange looks. She turned away quickly and composed herself. She had spent years learning to mask her emotions; she felt compelled to say strong for the sake of others.

Still something inside of her held on to a hope that somehow another world was possible. Whoever this boy was, and wherever he was headed, Linka hoped that he could truly accomplish what he claimed he wanted to do. As for her… well, it was too late wasn't it? Perhaps if she had known someone like him when she was younger it would have made a difference.

But there was no need worrying about what could have been. She shook her head, trying to will those thoughts away. She needed to focus on maintaining order, not silly Americans and their crazy ideas.

Though she really wished _he_ would have been the one Gaia summoned to be the Fire Planeteer…

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><p>AN Part 2: I'd like to say hello again after being gone for a few years. I have A LOT of reading and reviewing to catch up on… A special thanks to OzQueene, Plunderer01 and Mudget for coaxing me out of my shell and back into the world of writing CP fanfic. Also thanks to all who have reviewed my stuff in the past, I really appreciate it. And finally a special thanks to Mudget for proofreading this story for me. Thanks everyone! :)


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